CCPA Speaks Out: Community Pharmacy Praises TRICARE Inclusions

Author: Julie Khani and Charles Sewell

Ms. Khani and Mr. Sewell are copresidents
of the Coalition for Community
Pharmacy Action.

As the first session of the
110th Congress came to a
close, the community pharmacy
industry applauded the House
and Senate passage of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2008. Specifically, the Coalition for
Community Pharmacy Action (CCPA)
cheered the inclusion of language that
would allow the Department of Defense
(DOD) to save billions of dollars by
negotiating discounted prices on prescription
drugs dispensed to TRICARE
beneficiaries in retail pharmacies, as
well as language to prevent increases
to retail pharmacy copayments.

Unfortunately, just before the end of
2007, President Bush indicated that he
would "pocket veto" the bill for reasons
not related to pharmacy. The pocket
veto—meaning he would neither sign
nor overtly veto the bill—effectively
forced Congress to go back to the
drawing board and pass a compromise
bill that would meet the president's
approval. Thankfully, both the House
and Senate were able to pass a new bill
with the president's revisions, and he
signed it into law in January.

During this delay, we continued to
advocate for the pharmacy-related provisions
of the bill. First, we supported a
provision that would allow the DOD to
negotiate lower prices for retail prescriptions
in the TRICARE program, and
a second provision that would freeze
retail pharmacy prescription copayments
for TRICARE beneficiaries for the
fiscal year. As we have mentioned
before, these provisions are essential
to ensure that beneficiaries of the TRICARE
program—as in other government
programs—have the freedom to
choose where they receive their prescription
drugs and services.

As the bill moved back to Congress
for revisions, the CCPA, the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores, and
the National Community Pharmacists
Association monitored the situation
closely, working with key senators and
representatives as well as White House
officials.

The Coalition for Community
Pharmacy Action (CCPA) is an
alliance between the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores
(NACDS) and the National
Community Pharmacists
Association (NCPA), which
together represents more than
55,000 community pharmacies.
CCPA leverages the support,
effort, and infrastructure of
NACDS and NCPA while engaging
community pharmacy to participate
and advocate on issues
affecting the industry.

In the end, it was a win?win situation:
TRICARE patients retained access
to their pharmacy of choice, and the
DOD was given the tools needed to
control prescription drug costs. The
Congressional Budget Office estimates
that from fiscal years 2008 to 2013 the
provision on discounted pricing will
save the DOD $2.6 billion.

The CCPA also worked in cooperation
with pharmacists in targeted districts
to reach out to key members of
the House and Senate—the lawmakers
who will take the lead in revising the
bill. We wish to thank members of the
Senate and House for including these
sections in the legislation, but we also
want to make sure that the provisions
remain a priority in the DOD legislative
packages in years to come.

Retail pharmacies play a vital role in
the TRICARE program—dispensing
more than 55 million prescriptions in
fiscal year 2006 alone—and the CCPA
continues to work to ensure we can
continue to provide this same, trusted
service in the future.